Anticreeper.



A. W. RICHARDS.

ANTICREEPERL APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18, 1915.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

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WK/ 55 v 1 th anti-creeper applied-to a rail,1tl1e sec- ARCHER W. RICHARDS, OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR .rO THE r. QM. 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

ANTICREEPER.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

Application filed January 18, 1915. Serial No. 2,809. i I

and State of ()hio, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Anticreepers, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in anti-creepers.

, The-general object of my invention 1s to provide a simple device which shall effectively resist creeping; that is, longitudinal movement of the railway rails in the direction of the traffic.

Other objects, contributory to this general object, are: to provide an anti-creeper having a jaw which pinches or grips one side of the rail base, contact with the opposite side thereof being maintained through a roller; to provide an anti-creeper of'this character having a tie-abutting flange which resists creeping, and is so disposed as to produce a skewing tendency in the rail anchor due to the fact that the jaw side of the anti-creeper tends to advance with the rail more than the other side; to provide an anti-creeper in which the roller may be readily applied without disturbing the rail, and to provide an anti-creeper which maintains itshold on the rail base, even if the movement of the rail is. reversed, in other words, one which prevents creeping in either direction.

Furtherobjects and advantages will be apparent without specific enumeration ljll01( of. In the accompanying drawings. I have illustrated one embodiment of the invention,

which latter maybe embodied in other forms I however. I a i Figure 1 is a sectional. elevation showing tio'n being taken on thelinell--1 Of Fig. 3.

showing the rail partially inside elevation. Fig. 8 is a top plan view partly in section of the anti -creeper. Fig. 4 isa perspective view of the keeper and roller. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing in exaggerated form, the positions which the anti-creeper tends to as- 8111116. I i a In the form illustrated, the anti-creeper consists of a transverse member or element 1 which may be termed a yoke and which is Fig.2 is an end elevation of the anti-creeper provided with a jaw 2 at one end, the'angle of which is made preferably somewhat less than the corresponding section of the rail base in Order that said jaw may pinch the rail base tightly when forced thereon. It has a vertical abutment 3 at the opposite end thereof which continued to form a second jaw larger than the first jaw, and providing a clearance between itself and the rail. base, both above, below and at the side thereof. The yoke and jaws are suitably reinforced by flanges b-5, the flange 4: being continued downwardly to provide a tie abutting flange 6. The structure thus far described is preferably made of malleable iron or cast steel, although Ido not limit myself to these materials.

i A roller 7 is provided arranged 'to turn about a vertical axis. Said roller is positioned so as to roll between the edge of the railbase and a vertical wall such-as provided by the abutment 3. However, .for convenience .in assen'ibling the device, I do not permit the roller to roll directly against said verti -al wall, but interposc a keeper 8 of metal, having substantially the form of a channel with inwardly turned flanges 9. Said keeper may have other configurations. Said flanges confine the roller within the keeper, but do not prevent free movement thereof. The roller is made preferably of hardened stceland may be provided with a' roughened or toothed periphery-to enable it to bite into the sideof the rail base. It may be provided also with a small centrally arranged coil spring 10 developing suflicient friction to prevent thevroller from dropping? out ofthe keeper during shipment thereof prior to installation, although this latter feature is notessential to the operati-veness of the device. Said spring also-maintains said rollerv at the propcr point within the keeper when thelatter is being driven to position, as hereinafter described.

' The anti-creeper is applied to the rail'basc by firstvpositioningthe yoke. This may be readily accomplished by booking the larger jaw over one side of the rail base, then lift ingthe opposite end and driving the smaller jaw'over the. Opposite side of the rail 'base until it-firmly grips the latter. The keeper 8, with the roller 7 therein. is then fitted into the lar er jaw and driven toward the tie. It will e noted that the vertical wall of the jaw 3 is preferably inclined slightly with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rail when the yoke is in the position shown in Fig. 3. As the keeper is driven forward, the roller 7 advances with it, being frictionally held in place, and hence, soon engages the side of the rail base and rolls along the two converging surfaces on opposite sides of it, its forward movement being one-half the forward movement of the keeper 8. The roller eventually wedges between said converging walls in about the position shown in Fig. 3, thereby preventing the roller from being driven farther forward and serving also to draw the aw 2 into very firm. en-

gagement with the oppoiste side of the rail base.

It will be seen that the jaw 2, which is sprung somewhat while being forced into position, grips the rail base very firmly and therefore tends to advance with the rail when the latter begins to creep. Contact with the opposite side of the rail base being made through a roller, said contact is. generally speaking, frictionless. Accordingly. the forward movement of the yoke. as a whole, being resisted by the .tie abutting flange (3, there is more of a tendency for one side of the anti-creeper to advance than for the other side. This results in a skewing tend ency. The tie abutting flange (3 is located preferably nearer to the roller end of the yoke than to the jaw end thereof. the preferred location being about as shown in the drawings. In this position, the skewing tendency is somewhat greater than if said flange were located at the middle of the yoke. Being located between the roller and said jaw, however, the forward movement of said jaw results in a rearward movement of the opposite end of the yoke, the tie abut ting flange serving as a pivot. The yoke being skewed somewhat, as shown in an exaggerated manner in the diagram, in dotted lines, in Fig. 5, engages the rail base at the forward edge A. The opposite end of theyoke being moved rearwardly, the tendency is to crowd the roller more firmly into its wedge-shaped chamber, thereby so tightening the grip of the anti-creeper on the rail as to effectively resist creeping. Of course,

it is to be understood that the above described skewing action need not necessarily occur to any appreciable extent, tlie various movements described being more a tendency toward movement than an actual movement. However, due to the creeping thrust of the rail, the base of the latter is gripped firmly between the roller and the forward portion of the jaw, the line of stress being probably as shown by the line B in the diagram.

When the rail moves rearwardly as sometimes occurs, due to reversal of traflic, contraction caused by cold, or other factors, the pressure between the flange 1 and the tie is relieved. In winter, the flange may become frozen in the ballast whereby said rearward movement is resisted by said flange by a force exerted in the opposite direction from that normally exerted thereby. The tendency of the rail anchor under these conditions, is to skew to the other posit-ion shown in the diagram in full lines, the rear edge of the jaw marked C being then crowded against the edge of the rail base.

creeper is therefore effective in resisting creeping in either direction.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the structure described without departing from the spirit of the invention. F or example, although the abutment is inclined and the vertical wall of the keeper is of uniform thickness, the latter might be wedgeshaped tapering in a forward direction, the resultant slope of the inner face of the keeper being dependent both on the slope of the abutment and'the cross-section of the verticalwall. Additional changes along other lines may, of course, be made as will be apparent without enumeration thereof.

I claim as my invention 1. An anti-creeper comprising a jawv for gripping one side of a rail base, a member providing rolling contact with the opposite side thereof, and a tie abutting flange, said parts being so connected and disposed that the creeping of the rail produces a skewing tendency in the anti-creeper in a horizontal plane, said jaw tending to move forward and said member tending to move backward.

An anti-creeper comprising a jaw at one side of the rail base, a vertically arranged roller at the other side thereof, and a tie abutting element arranged nearer to the said roller than to said jaw to facilitate skewing.

3. An anti-creeper comprising a. aw having a vertical wall parallel to the edge of the rail base, a second vertical wall on the opposite side of the rail base, a roller between said latter and the adjacent edge of the rail base and arranged in advance of a perpemlicular drawn from the rear end of said first wall to said opposite Wall and means cooperating with the tie to resist creeping, and to impart a skewing tendency to said anti-creeper.

4. An anti-creeper comprising a yoke having a rail gripping jaw at one end, a keeper at the otherend and a roller which engages and rolls between the side of the rail base and the vertical wall of said keeper.

5. An anti-creepercomprising a yoke having a jaw at one end, a diagonally arranged vertical abutment at the other end, a channel-shaped keeper against said abutment, and a roller Within said channel.

6. In an ahti-creeper, a channel-shaped keeper, and a roller within the same, which bears against the vertical wall thereof, the flanges of said channel being bent toward each other to partially close the open side of said channel and confine said roller therein.

7. A device ofthe class described, com prising a transverse member beneath the rail. base,a jaw at one end thereof for gripping the rail base, and a larger jaw at the other end thereof providing a clearance between itself-and the rail base, a channel member within saidv larger jaw, and a vertical roller within said channel, said roller engaging the adjacent side of the rail base without obstruction from said channel. r

8. A device of the class described, comprisii g a transverse element having a tie abutting flange, a jaw at one end thereof and aninclined abutment at the other end thereof, a keeper having a roller mounted therein, said keeper being arranged to fit between said abutment and the adjacent side of the rail base, whereby when driven forward said roller is advanced approximately one-half the distance moved by said keeper and draws said jaw into firm engagement with the opposite side of the rail base.

9. An anti-creeper comprising a yoke having an abutment at one end, .aroller adjacent thereto, and means between said abutment and said roller providing a surface on which the latter may roll.

j 10; In an anti-creeper, a roller, a keeper therefor and means insuring frictional contact" between said roller and keeper tending to maintain the roller 1n positionthereln unless forcibly moved.-

11. An anti-creeper comprisinga transverse element having a. aw which grips and adheres to one side of the rail base, a de pending flange constituting a pivot about which the anchor may skew during move; ment of the rail. and means providing rolling contact with the other side of the rail base between which means and said jaw the rail is confined.

' 12. An anti-creeper comprisinga transverse element having a jaw which grips and adheres to one side of the rail base, a depending flange at an intermediate part of said element constituting a pivotabout which the anchor may skew during movement of the rail, a vertical wedging surface adjacent to the opposite side of the rail base, and means cooperating withsaid surface and the edge of the rail base, providing contact with the latter in advance of a perpendicular drawn from the rear of said jaw to said wedging surface.

13. An anti-creeper comprising a body portion, 'a jaw at one side thereof, a vertical inclined wall at the other side thereof, a tieab itting flange intermediate said elements whereby sa id aw advances and said wall-retreats when the rail creeps forwardly and a member which is rolled wall along the side of-the rail base and wedges during said creeping movement.

14:. An anti-creeper comprising a transverse element, a'jaw at one end thereof, a wedging surface and a rolling element in engagement therewith at the other end thereof, contact between said two latter elements being in advance of a perpendicular from the rearwardly by said rear of said jaw to said: surface, and means for anchoring said transverse element to the road bed whereby said anti-creeper tightens its grip when the rail moves in either direction.

l5fAn anti-creeper comprising a trans verse element, a jaw at one end thereof, a

wedging surface at the other end thereof, a

tie-abutting flange between said ends, and means confined between said surface andthe adjacent rail base at a point which insures an increased grip of the rail base upon skewing of the anti-creeper in either direction. I

' In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub-- scribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

' ARCHER W. RICHARDS. Witnesses:

MGCLELLAN YOUNG, DAHLIA ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 6. 

